Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (abbreviated as ESIC) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. The fund is managed by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) according to rules and regulations stipulated in the ESI Act 1948.
Constitution of ESI Corporation
The ESI Corporation is an apex body under the Employees’ State Insurance Act. Thus, many important functionaries and experts play a role in its functioning.
The Corporation is headed by a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman that the Central Government appoints. Apart from these, the Central Government gets to appoint five other persons of its choice.
Each State Government also gets to appoint one representative for itself in the Corporation. Another person that the Central Government appoints collectively represents all Union Territories.
In order to represent the views of employers and employees, the Central Government appoints ten persons. The government generally consults with employers’ organizations for this purpose. Even the medical profession gets representation in the Corporation through two members.
Finally, the Corporation also has a Director General whose post is ex-officio. Three Members of Parliament (2 from Lok Sabha and 1 from Rajya Sabha) also become members.
Powers of The Employees State Insurance Corporation
The corporation is empowered to take steps for the benefit of the insured persons. They are:
(i) To promote the measures for the improvement of health and welfare of insured personnel;
(ii) To promote the measures for the rehabilitation and re-employment of insured persons who are disabled or injured;
(iii) To incur expenses in respect of such measures from its fundup to a limit prescribed by the central government.
Role of ESIC To Secure Social Security Through Benefits Available Under Employees State Insurance Act, 1948
The various benefits under this clearly shows that this is for social security legislation. It provides for six types of benefits to which the insured persons, their dependants and certain other entitled persons.
The Benefits are as follows:
- Disability Benefit: In case an employee is disabled, ESIC ensures that the employee is paid their monthly wages for the period of the injury in case of a temporary disablement or for the remainder of the employee’s life in case of a permanent disablement.
- Medical Benefits: The Employee State Insurance Corporation takes care of an individual’s medical expenses by providing reasonable medical care. This cover comes into effect from day one of the individual’s employment.
- Maternity Benefit: ESIC helps an employee welcome their baby to a household which has been showered with benefits. ESIC provides a total of 100% of the average daily wages for a period of to 26 weeks from the time of going into labor and 6 weeks in case of a miscarriage. 12 weeks of pay is provided in the case of an adoption.
- Sickness Benefit: ESIC ensures that there is a flow of cash coming into the employee’s household during medical leave. 70% of the average daily wages of an employee is paid during medical leave for a maximum period of 91 days in two successive benefit periods.
- Unemployment Allowance: ESI provides a monthly cash allowance for a maximum period of 24 months in case of permanent invalidity due to a non-employment injury or due to involuntary loss of employment.
- Dependent’s Benefit: In case the employee meets with an untimely death due to an injury at the place of employment, ESIC will provide monthly payments apportioned among the surviving dependents.